As usual, the transcript of the service is below
Matthew 6:9-13
9 This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name,10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven.11 Give us today our daily bread.12 And forgive us our sins,as we also have forgiven those who have sinned against us.13 And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil (the evil one).
Galatians 5:22 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
Matthew 6:9-13 SELF CONTROL IN THIS GROWING SEASON
Have you noticed how much our gardens and lawns are growing? With the steady combination of sun and rain, I have seen the plants in our garden gaining more strength and getting well established.
These last several weeks, we have been considering the growth of the fruits of God’s Spirit in us. We have realized that this unique growing season we find ourselves in is a time when God can continue His intention of growing these fruits of His Holy Spirit in and through our day to day lives. We might think that the challenges and tensions of this season are less than ideal growing conditions. In fact, we have come to understand that whatever the circumstances, God can and will continue His work in us.
This week, we come to the last in the list of the fruits of God’s Spirit and it is self control. This fruit will be essential for the other fruits to also grow and flourish in us. Self-control needs to be growing in us because self control makes way for God to be in control.
I have recently been finding the words of the familiar Lord’s Prayer to be both meaningful and helpful in my prayer times. As we look more closely at the Lord’s Prayer, we will find that it really is about placing everything in God’s hands and inviting Him to take control, not us.
Often, we will hear people expressing that they need willpower to make a particular change in their lives and to stick with it. Self control grows in us, as we, by God’s grace, exercise both “willpower” and “won’t power”.
What can you identify in your life right now that requires self control so that God can take control?
It might be an attitude; the words that you choose; or a certain behaviour. It is likely to be something that you have been dealing with for some time and have perhaps felt that you could never find control over.
In examining The Lord’s Prayer together, I am praying that we will recognize the possibility for self control to grow and mature in us as we look to God and ask Him to take control.
The beginning of the prayer establishes that God is, “Our Father” (vs.9a)
Last week on Fathers’ Day Sunday, we were considering the immense love and gentleness of God, our Father in heaven. God is the Father who always waits to welcome us home to Him.
Right from the outset of this prayer, we are establishing that we can trust our Father God. We can trust Him and ask Him to take control in our lives.
Further affirmation of being able to trust God comes in the next truth of this prayer, “hallowed (holy) is Your name.” (vs. 9b) Our God is holy and not tainted by the corruption of sin. We see frequent examples of leaders who act out of self interest and greed. We find this same stain in us. God is completely different than this. Since God is all together holy and good, we can look to Him and worship Him in full surrender. That means fully surrendering control to Him.
The next verse expresses a sincere desire for God to be in control in these words, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (vs. 10). When we pray, do we pray for God’s will to be done or ours?
Often our prayers have a tendency for us to be trying to convince God to see things our way and to do things our way. This is not self control.
Jesus, as He faced the cross is the supreme example of self control when He prays to God the Father, “Not my will, but Yours be done”. (Matthew 26:39)
When we pray this line of the Lord’s Prayer, we can be inviting God to accomplish His will in us and through us. This can only happen as self is under control.
Now this next part of the prayer is an area where many of us are aware of the need for self control. It is with regards to what we eat and don’t eat. Food and the enjoyment of food is a gift from God. We do need food to nourish and to sustain our bodies.
I have been finding that praying, “Give us today our daily bread” (vs. 11) is a worthwhile insight into the self control of moderation. We are asking for enough to eat for today. Notice it is not eating enough for both today and tomorrow, all in today. Self control in eating actually makes what we do eat more enjoyable and appreciated. God can help us in all the areas of our lives where self control is required.
Self control is certainly required when it comes to forgiveness. In this prayer we are asking God to, “Forgive us our sins as we also have forgiven those who have sinned against us.” (vs. 12)
Is there someone who has sinned against you, whom you have not yet forgiven? God wants to set us free both by forgiving us and by having us offer forgiveness.
The way that our stubborn self resists forgiveness is by insisting on holding on to what was said or done and refusing to let go. It is only as we trust God to help us to release that hold that self gets controlled and God takes control and makes forgiveness possible.
Several conversations have revealed that forgiveness is one of the hardest things that we as Christians are asked to do. God has forgiven us, but we struggle to forgive. Today can be a day of new beginnings as we bring that struggle to forgive to God and admit we cannot forgive by ourselves but when self is controlled, God’s grace can make forgiveness a reality. We can grow in self control and move forward.
The final matter that this prayer deals with is a realization that temptation is constant. We cannot think that finding self control on one occasion will be the end of the story. We definitely need to keep relying on God to steer us away from sin.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (vs. 13)
This draws our attention to the ongoing need to depend on God and to ask Him to be in control not us, not self.
Every day we need God to lead us away from temptation. There are certain patterns in our lives that consistently arrange things so that self gets the say instead of God. It should not be surprising to us that those patterns place us in the most likely spot that we will be tempted and not have the self control to resist the temptation to sin.
This covers all kinds of sin. This not just an obvious sin like robbing a bank. This is the criticism and judgment and complaining and bitterness and snide comments that can so easily come from us. These are the very sins that we can be diverted from if we are relying on God’s Spirit to grow love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control in us.
When these fruits of God’s Spirit are growing in us, we will be delivered from evil and the attempts of the evil one to draw us away from our Father God instead of closer to Him.
I want to encourage us all to regularly pray this Lord’s Prayer as an expression of our desire for God to take center stage in our lives and for self to be brought under control so that God’s will really will be done here on earth in us.
God has given all of us opportunities to learn and to grow in this season of the pandemic. This growing season has provided us with time to reflect on our faith and on our commitment to Jesus, to take seriously the call to serve Him.
Next Sunday, July 5th at 10:30 am, when we gather for our Outdoor Service at Springford Baptist Church, we will be thanking God and reflecting on what we have been learning from God in this growing season. Please pray that God will guide each of us this week in being attentive to what God has been showing us and saying to us in this growing season. And know that we will need to keep listening for God because He will have more to reveal if self control in us is to welcome God to take full control.